Study Elvis

The University of Amsterdam, Faculty American Studies, presents a bachelor course this fall on "Elvis Presley: from King to Contemporary Saint", starting September 10, 2010.

Goals are:

1) Introducing students to Elvis Presley as an icon of American culture
2) Focusing on the religious or spiritual meaning of American icons as Elvis in the US and in the Netherlands

Content:
In the course we will analyze the life of Elvis Presley (1935-1977) and his posthumous career. The rise of Elvis in the mid-fifties marked the start of pop music and youth culture in the United States and abroad. "Before Elvis, there was nothing" said John Lennon. Although Elvis was considered a threat to the moral and religious establishment when he started, he was quite religious himself. Elvis was the first of many idols to come. After his untimely death his musical inheritance and his mansion Graceland gained a sacred status. What is the religious or spiritual meaning of Elvis as a cultural phenomenon anno 2010 in the United States, Europe and especially the Netherlands?

Professor Ruud Janssens of American Studies has asked Fred Omvlee, chaplain and aspiring to obtain a PhD on the religious meaning of the cultural phenomenon Elvis Presley, to present this course. Literature that will be used in this course is:

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In answer to 'the old scudder'. If you look upon a Degree Course with the analogy of an 'Iceberg' - the small part above the water being the actual course and the much larger part beneath the water as being the skills required to complete the course i.e. analysis, research methods, presentation, etc., then it becomes clear that that whatever the subject matter of the degree it is the underlying skills which are important to any potential employer. If an employer is looking for particular expertise in a certain job then they will usually look for previous experience and/or a Masters Degree which hones in more deeply with the subject matter in question.